Interview: Siege X Director Says Dual Front can Help Players Get Their Friends Into R6

The competitive scene is heating up as an esports tab was just added to Siege to offer fans an in-game way to participate, while casual players are getting a dedicated mode. We're bringing you a set of predictions as to how R6 Siege might evolve as it steps into its new shoes.

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The launch of Rainbow Six Siege X is still fresh in everyone's minds, but many fans are looking to the future with predictions of how the game will grow. The competitive scene is heating up as an esports tab was just added to Siege to offer fans an in-game way to participate, while casual players are getting a dedicated mode.

We're bringing you a set of predictions as to how R6 Siege might evolve as it steps into its new shoes, along with a few words from Joshua Mills, the Game Director for Rainbow Six Siege X.

Rainbow Six Siege X Will Continue to Get More Competitive

Ubisoft

Ubisoft is planning to support the competitive scene for a long time, and the esports tab is living proof. Game Director for Siege X, Joshua Mills, told Esports on SI that competitive is the "lifeblood" of Siege.

"I think the core siege experience is the lifeblood of the game. It's highly competitive, and it's part of the DNA. It's why we've been sticking around for ten years playing it."

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Joshua makes it clear that the competitive community will always have a place in the Siege development cycle, which is essential for a tactical shooter to succeed. As such, we can predict that esports viewership will grow even larger as we head into the next era of Rainbow Six Siege.

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Dual Front Will Create a Place for Casual Players

Ubisoft

Competitive is the "lifeblood" of Siege, as Joshua Mills said, but Ubisoft also wants to be inclusive of casual players and competitive fans who want to take a break from Ranked. The recently introduced Dual Front is a 6v6 mode that allows players to respawn and features a more diverse lineup of operators and gadgets.

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Mills believes that Dual Front can be a great way for competitive players to introduce friends to the world of R6 Siege.

"Dual Front is a great way to take a break from the Ranked match. Maybe you're not having such a great run that evening, go blow off some steam in Dual Front, but it's also a good way to help introduce friends to Siege," Joshua explained.

The Siege X director also conveyed that experiencing what makes the gameplay special in Dual Front will help casual fans make that transition to the competitive side of the game.

"Siege is a massive game, incredibly complex. Being able to witness those interactions of the operators, you start to fall in love with the systems that make the competitive experience so incredible."

Esports on SI predicts that the casual player base will grow significantly in Rainbow Six Siege X, especially since it's now free on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC.

According to SteamDB, the move to free-to-play has already caused a huge jump in the number of players in-game. On Siege X launch day, Rainbow Six Siege reached a peak concurrent player count of over 142,000. This is not the game's all-time peak, which came last year shortly after the Six Invitational when Ubisoft unveiled its plans for Year 9. However, the fact that the game sees a huge jump in players after its world championship and annual roadmap reveal is a great sign for the future of a free-to-play game. Now, when players, content creators, and journalists are reporting on Ubisoft's 2026 plans the game will be even more accessible to anyone excited by the upcoming content.

The legacy of Rainbow Six Siege is a game that slowly builds steam over time off the back of frequent content updates and active developer support. It will be up to Mills and the rest of the Siege X team to build off of this launch and keep that momentum going.

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